She comes as abrasive, loud and a troubled wife who wants things done according to her dictates. Away from the cameras, Eve D’Souza-popularly known as Virshita- is pure talent if her multiple shows on NTV and Magic Maisha East are anything to go by. Her exit from Capital FM, where she hosted Hits Not Homework show, was unexpected but went a long way to showcase her versatility. She went on to start Moonbeam Productions together with Lucy Mwangi.
Auntie Boss
The sitcom was conceived by D’Souza and her co-executive producer Lucy Mwangi by happenchance. The two were exchanging stories about their experiences with househelps and the idea of having a sitcom centred around them popped up. “We were swapping the funniest stories about our experiences with house helps and after talking straight for two hours she said this would make a great TV show”, the actress said during an interview on the Saturday Nation. It was going to compete with other sitcoms like The Real Househelps of Kawangware that has a similar theme. Eve D’Souza plays Virshita, wife to Donovan (Maqbul Mohammed) in a marriage that is full of intrigues. The show that airs on NTV every Tuesday ranks among the most watched local productions in Kenya.
Virshita
Eve D’Souza, probably unknowingly, is debunking inter-racial marriages between Indians and Africans. That aside, D’Souza and Lucy became the first Kenyans to have a spin off show. It was actually Lucy who insisted on having a separate story centred around the characters of D’Souza and Don. Mnet loved the idea of an interracial TV sitcom and they struck a deal.
Auntie Boss Budget
The actress has lamented on the low budget they are offered by broadcasters who expect them to do a good job. She told Saturday Nation of the sad state of production in Kenya: “I wish there was more support to be quite honest. When I was in radio, I used to hear my friends talk about it and you don’t really realise it until you are in it. It is so difficult to get a show on TV. Broadcasters have such low budgets. You are given a very low budget and expected to do amazing things with it, which is very difficult…..”.
Virshita Budget
This was a major breakthrough for Lucy and D’Souza as Magic Maisha East pays way much more than local broadcasters. While we don’t have the exact figures paid for Virshita, the broadcaster usually gives a blanket fee per episode. Once this is done, the producer has to meet his end of the bargain by delivering the agreed number of episodes. A rough estimate would put what Moonbeam Productions receive from Magic Africa East at kes1 million per episode.
What is Virshita paid per episode?
Her pay as an actress and executive producer on Auntie Boss can comfortably earn her over kes200,000 per month. On Virshita, D’Souza take home is about kes350,000.
Auntie Boss cast
Nice Njeri as Shiru
Sandra Dacha as Silprosa
Eve D’Souza as Varshita
Abdul Karim Athman as Cosmas
Grace Muna as Vanessa
Maqbul Mohammed as Donovan
Matthew Mwangi as Kyle have
